Hancock County

Brook Trout:

Lakewood Pond (Bar Harbor): This small pond, located within Acadia National Park, gets stocked with 600 fall fingerling 6- to 8-inch trout and has very little use in the winter because it’s a mile walk behind a Park gate.  The gate is opened by the end of April and allows anglers to drive within 200 feet of the pond.  Excellent brook trout fishing can be found here from either the shore or a canoe.

Little Tunk Pond (Sullivan): This pond located at the base of Black Mountain can be accessed by 10 minute walking trail from the Frenchman’s Bay Conservancy parking area off Route 183.  It is stocked with 4,200 fall fingerling 6- to 8-inch trout.  It gets very little use in the winter and offers spring anglers excellent fishing from shore or by canoe.

Simmons Pond (Hancock):  Located behind a gate until the muddy road dries, this pond offers walk-in access for its early anglers. The 5-minute walk from the parking area is worth the trip as this spring-fed kettle hole pond holds stocked trout to sizes of 15-16 inches.  It is stocked annually with 525 fall fingerling 6- to 8”-inch trout and 100 8- to 10-inch trout in the spring. The pond is closed to ice fishing, so all stocked fish are reserved for open-water anglers. Simmons is an excellent early pond for shore anglers, float tubers, or canoe fishermen.

Upper Hadlock Pond (Northeast Harbor): This pond is one of the first coastal trout ponds to go ice-free.  It is not open to ice fishing, so spring, summer and fall anglers get all the benefits, especially in the early spring.  The pond is located roadside of Route 198 and can be fished very successfully from shore or a small boat.  It gets stocked with 1,400 fall fingerling 6- to 8-inch trout as well as 75 fall yearling 12- to 14-inch trout.  This is an excellent choice for early spring fly or spin casting or trolling.

Echo Lake (Southwest Harbor):  This larger 200-acre trout pond is managed for larger fish.  Many brook trout here average between 12 and 14 inches with some attaining sizes of 18 inches.  The pond also provides good fishing for landlocked salmon that range in length from 16 to 22 inches.  This pond can fished from shore and is just a short walk from Route 102, or anglers can launch boats at the Ike’s Point landing.  Most anglers have great success trolling flies or lures.  It is stocked with 3,500 fall fingerling 6- to 8-inch and 400 8- to 10-inch trout as well as 75 salmon.

Fox Pond (T10 SD): This picturesque roadside pond located on Route 182 in the Black Woods is one of the area’s most popular trout waters.  Most anglers kick back on the shore with their family and throw out worms with great success.  Others prefer to fly or spin cast with equal success.  Some anglers launch a small boat at the public access and troll and do extremely well.  The pond is stocked with lots of trout from its 3,000 6- to 8-inch fall fingerlings and 400 8- to 10-inch spring yearling trout to its 50 10- to 13-inch fall yearling brown trout.  This pond produces great fishing for good numbers of brook trout and large brown trout.

Orland River (Orland): This river begins at the base of the Alamoosook Lake dam and is stocked with 600 spring yearling 8- to 10-inch brook trout in May making for terrific fly, spin, or worm fishing opportunities.

Moosehorn Stream (Bucksport): This stream crosses Route 46 and is stocked with 500 8- to 10-inch spring yearling brook trout spread out through a ¼-mile portion of the stream mostly upstream of the Route 46 bridge and off the town of Bucksport streamside property.  This is a terrific spot to take a youngster and worm fish either from the shore or from a canoe.

We also recommend the following terrific wild brook trout streams;

West Branch of the Union River, Middle Branch of the Union River, Bog River – Eastbrook, Mann Brook – Dedham, Tunk Stream – Unionville, Tannery Brook – Otis, Johnny’s Brook – Franklin, West Branch of the Narraquagus River, Dumb Brook – Mariaville, Beaver Brook – Aurora, Kebo Brook – Bar Harbor and Hothole Brook – Orland.

Salmon:

Long Pond (Mount Desert): This pond is stocked annually with 250 salmon and is producing good numbers of 16- to 19-inch fish.  It is one of the first coastal salmon waters to go ice-free in April, and is a good bet for early spring salmon trolling.

Phillips Lake (Dedham): This lake gets very little fishing use in the winter and offers good salmon trolling in May and June.  It gets stocked with 350 salmon annually.

Hopkins Pond (Clifton): After its first two initial stockings of salmon, this pond is now producing fish up to 20 inches.  Most salmon trollers don’t think of the water but they should.  It’s a sleeper and well worth trolling this spring.

Tunk Lake (T 10 SD): The traveling conditions were not good this past winter so the use by ice fishermen was low, making more salmon available to open-water anglers.  Tunk gets stocked with 350 to 500 salmon each spring and they are growing well.  The surface waters are slow to warm up but when they do in the latter part of May anglers should make Tunk one of their spring trolling destinations.

Brown trout:

Lower Patten Pond (Surry): This water has been stocked twice in the last two years with large fall yearling browns.  They should be growing well and produce a good ice-out fishery for trollers who like run flies or lures just off the drop offs as soon as the pond sheds its winter coat. Fishing regulations require that all brown trout must be released at this pond.

Walker Pond (Brooksville):  If you’re looking for big browns this is the pond. Walkers has not been stocked for several years but the brown trout here grow fast and get big.  Anglers who don’t mind putting a little more time in trolling off the drop offs as soon as the ice goes out could potentially land a brown between 4 and 12 pounds.

Washington County

Brook trout:

Simpson Pond (Roque Bluffs): This pond is situated in the middle of Roque Bluffs State Park and is the first pond to go ice free in early April.  We highly recommend this as an early fishing destination, as well as later in May after the pond receives its annual stocking of 200 spring yearling 8- to 10-inch brook trout. Simpson Pond also gets stocked with 75 brown trout.  The pond holds trout to older ages and larger sizes. It’s not uncommon to catch brook trout from 11 to 15 inches.  It also produces good numbers of 15 to 17 inch browns with an occasional larger fish.

West Pike Brook Pond (T18 MD): Located just outside of Cherryfield, this pond is a local favorite for anglers who like to hook into brookies between 12 and 15 inches. The pond is stocked annually with 1,200 6- to 8-inch fall fingerling trout with good survival for good numbers of larger individuals that anglers begin catching as soon as the ice starts to recede away from the shore.  Most fishermen shore fish with artificial lures but there is also a boat launch for small craft, and some anglers prefer to spin or fly cast from a canoe.

Montegail Pond (Centerville); This pond is tucked away in the blueberry barrens and is stocked annually with 2,500 6- to 8-inch fall fingerlings and 300 spring yearling 8- to 10-inch  trout plus 175 large 11- to 14-inch fall yearling trout.  It has many springs where trout like to hold out in midsummer. Anglers who fish this early can have some fantastic fishing.

Huntley Creek Pond (Cutler): This old Navy base pond gets stocked annually in May with 600 spring yearling 8- to 10-inch trout.  It’s a great spot to take a child or the whole family for a day of fishing and picnicking.

Six Mile Lake (Marshfield): This lake is located just outside of the town of Machias off Route 192.  It is stocked heavily annually with 1,950 6- to 8-inch fall fingerling and 700 8- to 10-inch spring yearling trout.  This pond produces some holdover trout of larger sizes so that early spring anglers commonly catch fish from 12 to 16 inches.

North & South Meyers Pond: These kettle-hole ponds are “kids only” waters that sit side by side off the blueberry barrens in Columbia.  Separated only by a thin esker, kids and their parents have a choice of which they would like to try first.  If the fish aren’t biting in one then just hop over the hill and try the other.  These waters are stocked heavily in the fall with 250 and 150 6- to 80-inch trout that holdover to sizes of 11 to 14 inches.  These ponds are very good fishing and are well worth taking the kids to.

Pineo Pond (Deblois): This fly-fishing only kettle-hole pond situated just off the Deblois blueberry barrens a few miles off Route 193.  Fishermen can easily fly fish from shore or launch their canoe from the access road.  This pond is stocked with 300 6- to 8-inch fall fingerling trout.  It commonly holds over trout to 12- to 16 inches.

Monroe Lake (T 43 MD): This pond is remote pond located just north of the Stud Mill Road. It is stocked heavily with 3,150 fall fingerling brook trout.  It is closed to ice fishing so the early spring angler can have some very fast fishing.  Trout here average from 11 to 15 inches.

Pork Barrel Lake (T6 R1): Pork Barrel is a wilderness pond located just northeast of West Grand Lake. Anglers reach it with with four-wheel drive vehicles. Its access road is located off the Amazon Road about 12 miles outside of the village of Grand Lake Stream.  The pond holds lots of 12 to 14 inch trout and is stocked with 650 fall fingerlings.  Its best fished from a float tube or canoe, and the carry-in off the access road is 100 feet.

Middle River (Marshfield): This stream runs beside Route 192 just north of Machias.  It has a “kids only” section and it’s stocked twice between the end of May and the beginning of June.  It’s great place to stop roadside and help your child cast a worm to catch their first trout.

The following are some of the best wild brook trout streams:  West Branch of the Machias River, Crooked River, Fifth Lake Stream, Old Stream, Chandler River, Dennys River, Mopang Stream, Little Mopang Stream, East Machias River, and the Pleasant River.

Landlocked Salmon:

Grand Lake Stream: One of the top five landlocked salmon fly fishing rivers in the state this water produces fast fishing in the Dam Pool in early April and May as fresh salmon arrive from West Grand Lake and disperse into the lower pools. This memorable and beautiful stream averages 100’ wide and is hard to beat for catch rates of fish between 16 and 20 inches.

Cathance Lake (Cooper); This lake is one of Washington County’s premier salmon waters.  It is stocked annually with 900 to 1,200 spring yearling 8- to 10-inch salmon.  It grows fish quickly, with salmon averaging between 16 and 20 inches with some reaching up to 4 pounds.  It also has a fishery for wild brook trout that are occasionally reach lengths of 12 to 18 inches.  This water can have fast fishing immediately after ice-out, which usually occurs by April 20.

West Grand Lake (Grand Lake Stream): This 14,000-acre lake is one of the top salmon waters in the state and can yield fast top water fishing within 1 to 2 weeks after the ice goes out.  This lake is usually stocked with 10,000 to 11,000 salmon annually and fish average between 15 and 19 inches.

Brown Trout:

Pennamaquan Lake (Charlotte): This lake produces some of the nicest sized brown trout in the county.  Trollers here are running lures and flies along the dropoffs to catch fish between 16 and 22 inches.

Because many of the waters in this report have special fishing regulations, anglers are advised to consult their lawbook or the online listing of fishing regulations at the following link:    http://www.maine.gov/ifw/laws_rules/fishing/openwater/index.htm

- Greg Burr, Assistant Regional Fisheries Biologist, Jonesboro.